diff --git a/src/speculators/models/dflash/core.py b/src/speculators/models/dflash/core.py
index 7661bcf96..4aa084154 100644
--- a/src/speculators/models/dflash/core.py
+++ b/src/speculators/models/dflash/core.py
@@ -3,10 +3,7 @@
 import torch
 from torch import nn
 from torch.nn.attention.flex_attention import create_block_mask
-from transformers import (
-    AutoConfig,
-    PretrainedConfig,
-)
+from transformers import PretrainedConfig
 from transformers.models.qwen3.modeling_qwen3 import (
     Qwen3RMSNorm,
     Qwen3RotaryEmbedding,
@@ -21,6 +18,7 @@
     get_base_indices_for_anchored_blocks,
     select_anchors,
 )
+from speculators.models.utils import resolve_target_layer_ids
 
 
 @SpeculatorModel.register("dflash")
@@ -63,25 +61,12 @@ def __init__(
             ]
         )
 
-        verifier_name_or_path = config.speculators_config.verifier.name_or_path
-        if verifier_name_or_path is None:
-            raise ValueError("Verifier name_or_path must be set in speculators_config")
-        verifier_config = AutoConfig.from_pretrained(verifier_name_or_path)
-        if hasattr(verifier_config, "text_config"):
-            verifier_config = verifier_config.text_config
-        num_verifier_layers = verifier_config.num_hidden_layers
-
-        if config.aux_hidden_state_layer_ids is not None:
-            self.target_layer_ids = config.aux_hidden_state_layer_ids
-        else:
-            # Eagle3 defaults; write back so they are persisted in config.json
-            self.target_layer_ids = [
-                2,
-                num_verifier_layers // 2,
-                num_verifier_layers - 3,
-            ]
-            # set defaults to config if not provided - vLLM will fail otherwise
-            config.aux_hidden_state_layer_ids = self.target_layer_ids
+        if config.aux_hidden_state_layer_ids is None:
+            raise ValueError(
+                "aux_hidden_state_layer_ids must be set in DFlashSpeculatorConfig. "
+                "Use DFlashDraftModel.from_training_args() to resolve defaults."
+            )
+        self.target_layer_ids = config.aux_hidden_state_layer_ids
 
         self.norm = Qwen3RMSNorm(
             config.transformer_layer_config.hidden_size,
@@ -140,12 +125,17 @@ def from_training_args(
             GreedyTokenProposalConfig,
         )
 
+        target_layer_ids = resolve_target_layer_ids(
+            kwargs.get("target_layer_ids"),
+            kwargs["verifier_name_or_path"],
+        )
+
         config = DFlashSpeculatorConfig(
             transformer_layer_config=verifier_config,
             draft_vocab_size=kwargs["draft_vocab_size"],
             block_size=kwargs.get("block_size", 8),
             max_anchors=kwargs.get("max_anchors", 3072),
-            aux_hidden_state_layer_ids=kwargs.get("target_layer_ids"),
+            aux_hidden_state_layer_ids=target_layer_ids,
             mask_token_id=kwargs.get("mask_token_id"),
             speculators_config=SpeculatorsConfig(
                 algorithm="dflash",
diff --git a/src/speculators/models/eagle3/core.py b/src/speculators/models/eagle3/core.py
index 16a67c54c..ff7142844 100644
--- a/src/speculators/models/eagle3/core.py
+++ b/src/speculators/models/eagle3/core.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
     extend_mask_for_draft_tokens,
 )
 from speculators.models.eagle3.model_definitions import model_classes
+from speculators.models.utils import resolve_target_layer_ids
 from speculators.proposals.greedy import GreedyTokenProposalConfig
 from speculators.utils.loading import load_model_layers
 
@@ -427,19 +428,10 @@ def from_training_args(
         Returns:
             Initialized Eagle3DraftModel
         """
-        target_layer_ids = kwargs.get("target_layer_ids")
-        if target_layer_ids is None:
-            unmodified_verifier_config = AutoConfig.from_pretrained(
-                kwargs["verifier_name_or_path"]
-            )
-            num_target_layers = unmodified_verifier_config.num_hidden_layers
-            target_layer_ids = [2, num_target_layers // 2, num_target_layers - 3]
-            warnings.warn(
-                "--target-layer-ids is not explicitly set. Setting target "
-                f"layers to {target_layer_ids}. If custom target layers were used "
-                "when launching vllm datagen, please set them explicitly.",
-                stacklevel=2,
-            )
+        target_layer_ids = resolve_target_layer_ids(
+            kwargs.get("target_layer_ids"),
+            kwargs["verifier_name_or_path"],
+        )
 
         config = Eagle3SpeculatorConfig(
             transformer_layer_config=verifier_config,
diff --git a/src/speculators/models/utils.py b/src/speculators/models/utils.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..0ebb8abca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/speculators/models/utils.py
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+import warnings
+
+from transformers import AutoConfig, PretrainedConfig
+
+
+def get_verifier_config(verifier_name_or_path: str) -> PretrainedConfig:
+    verifier_config = AutoConfig.from_pretrained(verifier_name_or_path)
+    if hasattr(verifier_config, "text_config"):
+        verifier_config = verifier_config.text_config
+    return verifier_config
+
+
+DEFAULT_TARGET_LAYER_IDS_WARNING = (
+    "--target-layer-ids is not explicitly set. Setting target "
+    "layers to {target_layer_ids}. If custom target layers were used "
+    "when launching vllm datagen, please set them explicitly."
+)
+
+
+def resolve_target_layer_ids(
+    target_layer_ids: list[int] | None,
+    verifier_name_or_path: str,
+) -> list[int]:
+    if target_layer_ids is not None:
+        return target_layer_ids
+
+    num_layers = get_verifier_config(verifier_name_or_path).num_hidden_layers
+    target_layer_ids = [2, num_layers // 2, num_layers - 3]
+    warnings.warn(
+        DEFAULT_TARGET_LAYER_IDS_WARNING.format(target_layer_ids=target_layer_ids),
+        stacklevel=3,
+    )
+    return target_layer_ids